After the first outbreak for the first year I had one small sore quite frequently but it was very easy to manage. Then I had barely any outbreaks at all for years and anything that did come up was very mild. In the last 6 months I've had 2 outbreaks. The first was about 4 months ago and wasn't too bad but i've just had another one come up 2 days ago and its really bad. Probably as bad as my first one - which I suppose in comparison to what I've read about with others isn't too bad but its still concerning me.

Is it normal for them to vary so much especially after such a length of time? Until now i've found it to be really easy to cope with but this is affecting my day. Could there have been anything i've done to make it come up worse? I can't think of anything!

I thought it was supposed to get milder over time. I'm now more bothered by it 4 years on that when i originally got it.

Is it normal for them to vary so much especially after such a length of time? Until now i've found it to be really easy to cope with but this is affecting my day. Could there have been anything i've done to make it come up worse? I can't think of anything!

I thought it was supposed to get milder over time. I'm now more bothered by it 4 years on that when i originally got it.

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I think you're right that generally speaking, the severity of outbreaks tend to lessen over time as our immune systems figure out how best to keep HSV at bay. But it is also a tricky virus and doesn't always follow this usual path.

It may be a bit labor-intensive but it may be helpful to keep a journal so as to get a sense of what works for you and what doesn't. Journal what you eat, your quality of sleep, level of daily stress (you could use a scale of 1-10 to measure how stressful each day feels to you). Take a look at this journal in comparison to outbreaks and see if there is any pattern.

I've had HSV for going on 6 years now and just had an outbreak that lasted a week and a half after years of outbreaks that are usually a few days. Like I said, tricky virus.

Just to reiterate,generally speaking Herpes does seem to lessen in terms of severity over time,but this isn't an exact science.It can have periods of being very unpredictable. Infact only last Friday a coldsore emerged on my upper lip,which has never happened before,as they are usually genital.I do as it happens,have a small flare up downstairs as well,its the usual really,just a couple of small bumps,and general redness.So this is a new development for me,so i am going to do what i have been meaning to do for a while now,start a journal like Morning suggested in the above post.The best thing we can do for ourselves is take stock of the causes of H..And this can be done through keeping an eye on things,in both senses of the word.

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